The subject of the present invention is an assembly of the type comprising:
a first element consisting of a work cabinet which delimits internally a workspace and in which cabinet an opening for access to the workspace is made,
at least one implement for receiving at least one product, the implement being intended to be inserted through the access opening into the workspace along a direction of insertion, the implement constituting a second element,
a system for communicating information by radiofrequency waves comprising at least one means for transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves which is associated with the first element and at least one means for transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves which is associated with the second element so as to communicate information such as to determine whether the receiving implement is inserted into the cabinet or is extracted therefrom.
The invention applies in particular to the processing of biological samples or materials and especially to the culturing, to the preserving and/or to the analysis of cells and/or microorganisms.
An assembly of the aforesaid type is known from the document WO-00/33005. The receiving implements therein are receptacles intended to contain biological products or specimens. Each receptacle is equipped with a radiofrequency transponder for identifying the product which it contains. In its workspace the cabinet comprises a series of trays or shelves each of which carries a detection antenna linked to a radiofrequency receiver so as to interrogate the transponders and thereby monitor the contents of the cabinet.
This document does not indicate how the distinction between entering and exiting movements of receptacles could be effected.
An aim of the invention is to provide an assembly of the aforesaid type which makes it possible easily to distinguish a movement of insertion from a movement of exit from the cabinet of an implement for receiving products.
Accordingly, a subject of the invention is an assembly of the aforesaid type, characterized in that the communication system comprises at least two means for transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves and which are associated with one of the elements and are spaced along a direction intended to coincide with the direction of insertion, so as to transmit and/or receive information from and/or to at least one means for transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves which is associated with the other of the elements, in an order representative of the insertion or of the extraction of the implement from the cabinet.
According to particular embodiments, the assembly can comprise one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or according to all technically possible combinations:
the said two means are means for transmitting two distinct signals,
the said two means are carried by the receiving implement,
the said two means are means for receiving a signal transmitted by the said means associated with the other of the elements,
the said two means are associated with the cabinet,
the assembly comprises several receptacles for products each furnished with a means of transmission by radiofrequency waves of an identification signal for the product contained in the receptacle, the receiving implement is a support of receptacles comprising several locations for positioning receptacles spaced along the said direction, and the communication system comprises in the vicinity of each location at least one means of transmission by radiofrequency waves of an identification signal for the relevant location, which means of transmission are spaced along the said direction.
A subject of the invention is furthermore a cabinet for an assembly as defined above, characterized in that it comprises at least two means for transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves and which are spaced along the direction of insertion of an implement for receiving at least one product in the cabinet so as to transmit and/or receive information to and/or from a means of transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves which is carried by the implement, in an order representative of the insertion or of the extraction of the implement from the cabinet.
According to particular embodiments:
the said two means are means for transmitting two distinct signals,
the said two means are means for receiving a signal transmitted by a means of transmission associated with the receiving implement.
The invention also relates to an implement for receiving at least one product for an assembly as defined above, characterized in that it comprises at least two means for transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves and which are spaced along a direction intended to coincide with the direction of insertion into a cabinet so as to transmit and/or receive information from and/or to a means of transmitting and/or receiving radiofrequency waves which is associated with the cabinet, in an order representative of the insertion or of the extraction of the implement from the cabinet.
According to particular embodiments:
the said two means are means for transmitting two distinct signals,
the said two means are means for receiving a signal transmitted by a means of transmission associated with the cabinet,
the implement is a support for receptacles for products each furnished with a means of transmission by radiofrequency waves of an identification signal for the product, the implement comprises several locations for positioning receptacles spaced along the said direction, and the implement comprises, in the vicinity of each location, at least one means of transmission by radiofrequency waves of an identification signal for the relevant location, which means of transmission are spaced along the said direction.